'Man-gagement' rings may be the next big engagement trend

Meagan Morris is an entertainment and lifestyle journalist living in New York City. In addition to SheKnows, Morris contributes to many publications including The New York Times, Yahoo! News, PopEater, NBC New York and Spinner. Follow he...

It's not exactly a huge trend, but the interest in male engagement rings is slowly climbing. A 2014 survey by the XO Group estimated that 5 percent of men are wearing so-called "man-gagement rings," but it's hard to get a number of how many [men's engagement rings] rings are sold," Amanda Gizzi, spokesperson for Jewelers of America, told The Atlantic in 2014, "because we don’t know what the rings are being purchased for."

It's not exactly a new thing, though. Retailers like L. Bamburger & Co.—which later turned in Macy's—tried to make male engagement rings a thing back in 1926 with national ad campaigns, but the idea flopped for being "too feminine."

But now there are shifting ideals on male and female roles in a relationship, making man-gagement rings more acceptable, even if men like Astin are still in the minority.

"The guys that are doing it are digging it," California jeweler Calla Gold told The Atlantic. "It’s one more memory to add to the quiver of stories that make for a happy married life."